The Importance of Customer Reviews for SEO

Customer reviews make strong social proof. At the back of people’s mind, their question is: “Who else is buying this? What do they have to say about this product?” What’s more, customer reviews also make for good SEO. From a Search Engine Optimization perspective, the more reviews you have, the better your performance in search results.

Here are some reasons why getting reviews from customers will also increase your SEO rankings:

• It’s fresh, relevant and user-generated content. The effort of writing blogs and unique product description can already be heavy work, especially if you have a lot of products on your e-commerce website. With reviews, your product pages are active, and with content that is relevant to the product.
• Customer reviews boost social conversation. You also gain SEO points as your customers engage with each other as they talk about the product. After all, potential customers will give more weight to what other fellow-customers can say.
• Reviews work on SEO attributes for you. If can get good reviews, your customers do a lot of work for you. They establish backlinks and internal links, as well as create titles for your website. They also increase the rankings for the keywords “product name + review.”
• Customer reviews also benefit local search. Search engines also use customer reviews as part of their ranking metrics. And this can be very vital for people who are on the verge of a buying decision and are actually in the vicinity in which the shops are located. For instance, Google displays the top rankings of relevant businesses in an area. If you have good customer ratings, your chances of being in the top 3 will also increase the chances of someone getting inside your shop and making a purchase.
• Reviews create social media buzz. Often, customers share their reviews through their social media accounts. They may even use hashtags that include your brand name. Then, other people can see and like these shares, creating a buzz for your products.

Because of the importance of customer reviews, you should also have a proactive and well thought-out Review Acquisition and Reputation Management Strategy. Here are some things you can do:

• Make an audit of your current standing. Make a thorough evaluation of your reviews. Check for regularity (How often do the reviews come in?), frequency and newness (When did the bulk of the reviews come in? Are there any new reviews in the last few days?) and satisfaction (How happy were your customers?). These three elements are important factors for search engines to see where you rank on the search results page.
• Look at review sites that Google links to. When you make a search for a keyword related to your products, look at the top results and check which review sites are being used. It will be a good idea to also obtain product reviews with these sites.
• Ask and encourage reviews. Make requests for reviews and make these easily actionable for customers. For instance, as a follow up after the delivery of your product, you may send an e-mail request (with a call to action) along with a link that they can easily click and respond to.
• Strengthen your customer service capability. How happy are your customers with your product? If they are not, they will most likely let you know. Treat negative reviews as a conversation with your customers and an opportunity for you to take steps to make and keep customers happy. Respond to each negative review with a win-win attitude: “How can we help alleviate your dissatisfaction?”

About Adaptivity Pro

Reviews and other e-commerce concerns are important for your business success. You may need a team to help you manage these and optimize the SEO opportunities that come to you. This is where Adaptivity Pro can help. With our expect Utah SEO analysts and programmers, you can implement vital strategies to ensure you keep track of both negative and positive reviews and harness these for SEO purposes. Adaptivity Pro also specializes in Utah web design, Internet marketing and other related services.